CONFLICT THESAURUS

HAVING UNWANTED POWERS



Never struggle with Show-and-Tell again. Activate your free trial or subscribe to view the Conflict Thesaurus in its entirety, or visit the Table of Contents to explore unlocked entries.

CHOOSE MY PLAN

HELPFUL TIP:

Conflict is your story’s secret sauce, supplying tension, friction, and complications to a character’s journey. It comes in a million different forms, so identify the obstacles and problems that will hit your character the hardest by using the Character Builder to uncover their primary insecurities, fears , and desires. Don’t forget to include everyday conflict scenarios that will frustrate them and keep the pressure high.
CATEGORY:
Miscellaneous challenges, loss of control, moral dilemmas and temptations, no-win scenarios

EXAMPLES:
Hearing other people's thoughts
Everything the character touches turning to dust 
Seeing the deceased in spirit form
Having acute hearing that can't be shut off
Physically feeling others' pain
The character being able to grant other people's wishes (but not their own)
Being invisible 
Only being able to speak in questions
Having a fantastic singing voice, but only when the character is alone
Being immortal, even if the character has severe wounds
Smelling things more strongly than what is normal
Having visions of the future
Seeing how people are going to die
Spontaneously time-warping or teleporting without any control
Strong emotions affecting the weather
Being a powerful empath who senses every emotion
Being able to do something that other people wish to exploit

MINOR COMPLICATIONS:
Lacking the ability to control the power
Difficulty communicating with others
People asking insensitive questions
Repeatedly being asked for a demonstration
Breaking something or destroying it
Having physical ailments related to the power (headaches, ringing ears, nausea, etc.)
Not being able to sleep well
Feeling or being treated like an outcast
The character's senses being overloaded
Being treated like a spectacle by others
Friends and acquaintances being afraid of the character
Being gossiped about
People making assumptions about the character because of the power 
Having to take uncomfortable or inconvenient precautions so the power isn't used accidentally (wearing earplugs, not being able to touch people, having to avoid places with strong smells, etc.)
Needing to be hyper aware of triggers and avoid them

POTENTIALLY DISASTROUS RESULTS:
...

RESULTING EMOTIONS:
...

POSSIBLE INTERNAL STRUGGLES:
...

PEOPLE WHO COULD BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED:
...

NEGATIVE TRAITS THAT COULD MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE:
...

IMPACT ON BASIC NEEDS:
...

WOUNDS THIS COULD LEAD TO:
...

POSITIVE TRAITS TO HELP THE CHARACTER COPE:
...

POSITIVE OUTCOMES:
...